Second Chances
by linn1
Summary: This is a AU of Shinzo, with Humankind gone into hiding from the Enterrans after they lost the war. Yakumo, a human girl left behind, sets out to find Shinzo with the mission to restore Humankind. And as her travelling partner, Mushrambo, the Dark King.
1. prologue

I have had this story in my head for years now. I just never got around to putting it on paper. It is a very long story, as the story developed in my head over time. It has been a while since I have written anything (reports don't count), or have actually watched the anime, so bear with me please. This is an AU, so most things will not be the same as in the anime!! Furthermore, there is NO Mushra in this story! As in my perspective Mushra and Mushrambo are the same person, so one soul.

Disclaimer: I do not own Shinzo, or the original characters.

Prologue

In the twenty-first century nations worldwide experimented with animals in hope to find cures for diseases through genetic manipulation. The results of the experiments were very promising and as time went on more and more diseases became treatable. Nevertheless, an unknown terrorist group located in the USA broke into one of the USA genetic labs and stole a sample of a genetically manipulated disease. They threatened the US government to stop all genetic manipulation experiments or they would release the disease among the population. The US government did not respond as their policy forbids them to negotiate with terrorists.

The disease was released on the population, and in the time span of two years two thirds of the global population was wiped out, with in some cases entire nations. A genetic laboratory in Japan found the cure just in time as with the rate the disease was going the rest of human kind would be gone in just under a year.

The populace who survived demanded of their emergency governments to put a stop to genetic manipulation, as they were afraid that history would repeat itself. After the almost wipe out three major nations had remained, namely the USA, UN and Japan. These three major nations and the smaller ones that remained, closed down their genetic laboratories, and a worldwide agreement was signed by all to never experiment with genetics of any kind again.

Human kind started to restore itself, and as time went on former nations were divided between existing nations without much difficulty, cities were rebuild as the world population started to increase rapidly, and lives were build up again. Like this human kind moved into the twenty-second century living peaceful and healthy lives.

However in the year of 2147 tension between the UN and the USA started to build as they both claimed the land of a nation in the former Sovjet Union which was entirely wiped out by the disease. The land they both claim had high natural resources that are beneficial for both nations. The situation escalated when it leaked out that the USA had secretly started to genetically manipulate humans and animals to use them as weapons of war as they felt threatened by the UN. These experiments were highly successful as the genetically manipulated animals and humans showed better resistance to diseases, fast healing, incredible speed and strength, intelligence and in some cases abilities that humans could only dream of. The human-like Enterrans aged similarly to humans, as was the same for animal-like Enterrans, who aged similarly to their animal specie. These genetically manipulated animals and humans were named Enterrans.

The UN who felt threatened by the USA, stole their knowledge through espionage and started to experiment successfully, creating their own Enterrans. The USA was outraged and declared war. On the 3rd of January 2149 the Enterran forces of the USA and UN collided on the former Sovjet Union nation's land, the war had officially started.

The years went by, as the USA and the UN waged war, forcing other nations to choose sides. Japan who wanted to be neutral, but was pressured to take sides with either the UN or the USA, started their own Enterran experiments with the intention to create seven extremely powerful Enterrans to put a stop to the war. Finally after ten years since Japan started with the experiments, the last and most powerful Enterran of them all was created. All these seven Enterrans would be trained from infancy at secret locations inside Japan as from then on these Enterrans had to be trained for war. 17 years went by and the war had turned even bloodier and almost all nations were involved by now, as the two great nations commanded their Enterrans to attack cities. Entire cities were destroyed, and slaughtered by the Enterrans as the leaders of both nations argued, the original dispute long forgotten. It was during this time that Japan sent their seven Enterrans to the battlefield as their training was finally complete.

The Enterran soldiers of both great nations did not stand a chance as they were crushed, and wiped out by the seven Enterrans. The USA and the UN were shocked as they saw their forces fall in a matter of hours, with Japan demanding that they would cease their war waging. From then on the seven Enterrans were named the Seven Enterrans Generals, as they were far above any Enterrans ever created. The leaders of the USA, UN and Japan came to the table in Kyoto to negotiate a peace treaty, and after almost a year of peace talks they came to an agreement. It was agreed upon that the land in the former Sovjet Union would be equally divided between the USA and the UN, each nation would not claim damages in money to each other, and most importantly the destruction of all weapons of war for all nations, meaning that all Enterrans were to be destroyed.

During the years of war, the Enterrans had reproduced and with the continuous creation of new Enterrans, the Enterran population had grown reaching five hundred thousand souls all around the world. The nations, however, put their treaty into action as they saw Enterrans as disposable. The Enterrans fought back and rebelled against their human creators led by the Seven Enterran Generals as war broke out again, but this time between Enterrans and their Human creators. This new war continued for two years when Humans, who were loosing, decided to let a nearby asteroid crash into the Earth to destroy or at least slow down the Enterrans. They had built hidden and barricaded cities to protect the rest of the human population, and as the last of humankind entered the hidden cities, human scientists used a specially designed technology to pull down the asteroid onto the Earth.

As the Earth started to recover from the asteroid impact, cities send out probes to scan for any possible remaining Enterrans. When they found none, the humans rejoiced thinking they had won and started to leave the cities to reclaim Earth. However, their joy was short lived as out of nowhere the Enterrans remerged again stronger and more powerful than ever. As they started to attack again, Humans fled back to their hidden cities, many dying along the way.

But the asteroid had not only effected Enterrans, as the asteroid crashed into the Earth, a few hundred miles away a young scientist and his daughter were running to reach the underground shelter made specially for the occasion by the scientist. Among the pieces of the asteroid and soil were thrown high into the sky and descended everywhere in the vicinity of hundreds of miles from the impact, there was a clear crystal that had broken into two flying among them. One piece of the broken crystal hit the young girl and merged with her, while the other piece had flown a few hundred miles away, hitting and merging with the strongest of the Seven Enterran Generals, Mushrambo.

And so their story begins as humankind pull back into their hidden cities, with the Enterrans on their tail with the intention to destroy them once and for all.

Please review.


	2. Chapter 1

Hey everybody! Thanks for the reviews!! I didn't know if people would actually read this story! It gives me an extra boost of motivation to hopefully finish this story till the end! And believe me, it's going to be quite long:D So don't be shy people and review!

Anyway, here is the first chapter of this story. It has been about a month ago, since I posted the prologue, as I want my stories to be good before posting them. So this is the normal writing time of writing and posting a chapter for me!

Disclaimer; I do not own Shinzo.

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Chapter one

'_I have to find him; the idiots can take care of the rest of the humans. If I can not find him, he could be our downfall', _he thought to himself. He had just destroyed one of those pesky hidden cities, before he felt him located somewhere in the East. _'I wonder if he is even aware of what kind of power he possesses. It doesn't matter though, I will still destroy him and than we, Enterrans, can finally be free',_ he smirked. He could already taste the freedom, after years of slavery by the humans they would finally be free. No more fighting in wars that are not their own, or be used as disposable weapons. _'Yes, I think I will very much like the world, once it is devoid of humans.'_

He felt that he was closing in on the human, looking down he found that he was above a forest. _'He is around here somewhere, I can feel it.' _Looking closer around he saw it, a cave. It was barely noticeable with all the trees and bushes surrounding it, but below that cave he could definitely feel his presence.

'RED ALERT, RED ALERT, ENEMY APPROACHING. NOW ACTIVATING ALL DEFENSE MECHANISM' the female voice of the computer warned as Professor Daigo Tatsuro just finished the last of the programming.

'Shit, how long till he reaches the entrance?'

'ENEMY WILL REACH THE ENTRANCE IN SIX MINUTES AND 55 SECONDS' the female voice replied.

'_NO! The cryogenic programme__ takes about ten minutes to be completed! I need more time!'_ He thought frantically as he hurriedly run to the centre of the room, were a robotic like container lay. Hastily typing in the code for the programme, he looked down through the enforced glass surface of the container seeing his young daughter peacefully lying there sleeping, oblivious to the danger that she was in. He sighed, 'You look so much like your mother. Don't worry daddy will protect you.' With that he kissed the glass surface and pushed the start button. 'CRYOGENIC SLEEPING PROCESS IS NOW BEING ACTIVATED, ALL PERSONEL PLEASE LEAVE THE DESIGNATED AREA.'

Taking one last look at his daughter he turned around and walked out of the room, knowing it was the last time that he would ever see his daughter again.

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'_Someone is coming out. Is it him?'_ Touching down on the ground he saw the figure that was emerging from the cave was indeed a guy, but '_no, it's not him. However, he is definitely in that cave.'_ With that he approached the male human; it had noticed him as he had started walking towards it. It didn't show any fear, it just looked depressed and angry. _'hm, weird guy. Usually they start begging for their pathetic lives_ _the moment they see me.'_ With that thought in mind, he withdrew his sword with his left hand from its holdings and lazily held it beside him. Slightly dragging it across the dirt floor as he slowly walked towards the human.

'Did you really think you could hide him from me human.' Daigo Tatsuro swallowed the lump inside of his throat that had formed there. He had as a matter of fact, thought so. His plan had been to put his daughter in to a cryogenic sleep, which when activated, the cave would be cloaked by the same technology that made the hidden cities invisible and impossible to find. The cave would stay hidden until his daughter would awaken from her deep sleep in the cryogenic pod. '_Shit, I didn't think we would be found before the cryogenic process was complete! It still needs about three minutes before it is completely activated! I just need three minutes!'_

The Enterran was still walking towards him, with his sword in his hand still dragging it slightly across the dirt floor. The Enterran stopped about three steps in front of him, but did not raise his sword.

'You did, didn't you,' he smirked evilly. 'Stupid, like a human could escape from the most powerful Enterran of all.'

The Enterran's eyes bored deep within his own, and Daigo noticed vaguely that the Enterran's eyes were a mixture of deep purple and red. Then suddenly it clicked. He swallowed, 'You're Mushrambo.'

'Finally, glad you realised it before your own death. It saves the introductions, you know.' Mushrambo was beginning to loose his patience. Not that he has had much of it to begin with, but he was in a hurry and this little chitchat was only keeping him from his goal. The sooner the threat was destroyed, the sooner he could be at ease. A look of despair dawned upon the human's face.

'_NO! I need more time!'_ Was Daigo's thought as he jumped towards the General Enterran, knowing it was a futile attempt. Mushrambo avoided the human's attack by sidestepping to the left. He raised his sword and swung it down on the human's back, mortally wounding him. Mushrambo knew he would be dead in less than five minutes. Turning his back on the human he started to run towards the cave.

Daigo saw him disappearing into the cave knowing that he had failed his daughter. _'I'm sorry Yakumo. Daddy couldn't protect you.'_ He coughed up blood and he could feel his life slipping away from him faster and faster. 'Ya-yaku-mo.'

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Mushrambo was running through the corridors of the underground laboratory, dodging lasers with his sword and speed. It was almost too easy for him. He could feel that he was getting closer to his enemy, and as he turned down the corridor he saw it. At the end of the corridor, there was a room. _'Hah, found you,'_ and as he thought that, the door of the room started to slide shut. Picking up his speed, Mushrambo just made it inside before the door was fully closed.

'DESIGNATED AREA LOCKED, NOW INITIATING COOLING PROCESS. TIME BEFORE THE CRYOGENIC SLEEPING PROGRAMME IS COMPLETED IS ONE MINUTE AND 31 SECONDS.' A female computerized voice said.

'_Hmm, more than enough time to kill him and than escape from here.'_ He thought, and as he looked at the middle of the room, there lay a robotic like container. Walking up to it, he looked inside and saw in there a small girl sleeping peacefully. _'Holy fuck, he is a small girl!'_ She looked like she was around six years old, and was most likely the male human's daughter. _'Shit!'_

He never liked the idea of killing children, even if they were human. When destroying cities and towns he always knew that he was also bringing death to them, but he thought of them as collateral damage. He had been ignorant; thinking the other person with the crystal would be a full grown male, like him. _'Well, at least I got one thing right, she's human.'_ Staring at the young girl, he noticed that it had become extremely cold inside the room. He had to hurry, or else he would freeze to death. Even he was not immune to freezing temperatures. With that he raised his sword high above his head, and as he was about to strike down she suddenly opened her eyes.

'What the..!'

But before Mushrambo could finish his sentence, her eyes glowed and suddenly he felt intense pain like he had never felt before. It felt like sharp needles were puncturing every pore on his body. He could hear himself screaming, it felt like dying. And as he thought that he couldn't take it anymore, the force smashed him into the wall, finally releasing him. He heard his sword clank against the wall next to him, and was grateful it hadn't hit him. He hadn't even noticed that he had released the sword, during the attack. He wanted to move to try and reach it, as he felt naked without it. However, he found that he couldn't move. Shit. That attack had really got to him.

The room was beginning to become colder and colder he noticed and knew he was screwed. He was going to die, defeated by a girl 14 years his junior. Oh how his comrades will mock him when, if ever, they found out. He could feel his consciousness slipping away from him, and knew it was over for him.

'CRYOGENIC SLEEPING PROGRAMME COMPLETED. DESIGNATED AREA WILL BE LOCKED FOR THE REMINDER OF THE CRYOGENIC SLEEPING PROGRAMME. ROOM TEMPERATURE IS DROPPING TO 100 DEGREES BELOW ZERO.' The female voice announced.

'_I knew she w__ould be trouble.' _And with that last thought in mind, Mushrambo drifted into unconsciousness, knowing that he would never wake up again.

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Hope you liked it. Please review!


	3. Chapter 2

Hi everybody! Sorry for the long wait, but I didn't know how to start with this second chapter as it is important and I moved abroad to study. Anyway here is chapter two, enjoy!

Disclaimer; I don't own Shinzo

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Chapter two

'Welcome ladies and gentlemen to tonight's "Tenth Exploration Anniversary"!' he said as the room full of important leaders and aristocrats of Athanasia applauded. With him being the most important person in that room tonight. He smiled to his audience knowing he had their full attention.

'As all of you know, every fifty years each city sends out an exploratory group to see how the Enterrans have developed and to see if they still impose a threat to humankind. In exactly one year from now, on the 11th of May, seven brave men and woman will leave on this dangerous mission for 62 days, exploring our designated area,' Alexander Adelind, president of Athanasia said. 'And now it is with my pleasure to announce this brave group of men and woman who have been given this dangerous mission. Please give them grant applause!' And with that Alexander Adelind welcomed the group of three women and four men onto the stage. He moved to the group's leader, a grave looking man, named Colonel Albert Guiz, as he remembered correctly and shakes his hand. 'Good luck Colonel Guiz', Alexander says to the man as the Colonel Guiz nods his head in acknowledgement. He moves on towards the rest of the group, which he notices that some of them are quite young. _'Hmm, they must be really good', _Alexander thinks as he shakes hands with the youngest of the team.

'Thank you for joining us tonight', he said to the group. 'I hope you will enjoy this evening, as it was especially organised in your honour.' With that Alexander gestured the group off the podium where they were greeted by the audience, who were eagerly to meet them. 'And now ladies and gentlemen, I will no longer take your attention and I wish you a pleasant evening!' The audience applauded while Alexander went off the stage and mingle with the other important guests that evening.

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'Are you nervous?' Beda Schwegzer asked her best friend Caine Moree.

'No, it's just some high society party', Caine replies while continuing to lean against the wall. They had finally escaped the eager crowd and were now drinking some mysterious alcoholic drink. 'I'm not talking about the party! I'm talking about the mission! Aren't you nervous about it? We will be going to the Outside!' Beda says kind of annoyed. Really the guy was just so not-getting-the-point sometimes.

'I guess so, but this is what we've always wanted right. Going Outside, to see the real world and not just the cities.'

'It is what we always wanted. I just still haven't grasped the entire concept yet, that in a year from now we will be on the Outside! Exploring the real world!'

'It's just our designated area. It is not the whole real world.'

'Ow shut up, for us it might as well be. But still, it is wonderful.'

Caine looks at her; she was having that wishful look on her face as she was staring into the crowd. Most likely thinking of all the things they will be seeing on the Outside. She was wearing a dress tonight that was accentuating her nicely trained figure. She had let her chin-length, sleek blond hair in the same style as she always wore it, straight and loose. She rarely wore dresses, as she told him that she finds them constricting and not very practical. She was pretty, but not in a knock-out kind of way. All in all, he considered her as the sister he never had. She looks up to him. 'Do you want to dance? You must dance at least once tonight! You already slighted that lady with the blue dress, while most of the allegeable ladies were in the vicinity. I must say you won't be getting any other dance offers tonight after that, no matter how charming and handsome you are.' She quickly stuck her tongue out to him, obviously relishing in his misfortune. She could be such a child sometimes. _'But he really is handsome'_, she thought with his medium short dirty blond hair, his light blue eyes, strong nose and stubborn chin. Not to mention his tall and lean, but muscular body. The fact that he had this boyish charm over him and was wearing a black tuxedo right now was not helping either.

'Hey! She was way too clingy for my taste, not to mention at least twice my age!'

'That is soo discriminating! This is not the 22nd century anymore you know, people nowadays can become up to 300 years old. If you calculate her age back like in the old days, than she could be about twenty-five years old! You know the ageing slows down when we reached our twentieth year!'

'It still does not change the fact that she is twice my age.'

'You're impossible sometimes you know that', she roles her eyes at him. He looks at her and signs, 'Ok, ok, you win. However milady, would you be so kind in honouring me with a dance with a pretty lady?' He says while bowing down elegantly and offering his hand to her. She slightly blushed as he does not often direct his charms to her.

'It would be my pleasure milord', she says as she regained her composure while teasing him back. She then places her hand in his, and together they move to the dance floor. They should at least dance to a few songs, before it was considered polite enough to leave the high-society party that was specially organised for them and their team.

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He could hear this faint beeping noise, like it was counting down or something. _'I can't move.'_ He found as he tried to move from his position. His entire body felt heavy, he couldn't even open his eyes, not to mention that he was cold. _'So tired'_, he felt himself slipping from the conscious world again, as his body was still not fully recovered from what had happened to him. As he fully slipped into unconsciousness, he realised in the back of his mind that he had no clue what had actually happened to him that had gotten him so beat up.

Please review!


	4. Chapter 3

Well people, it has been three years since I have updated this story. I hope you will enjoy this chapter. My next chapter will not be up in the next few weeks, as school keeps me busy. I'll try to update in June.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Shinzo, or the original characters.

Chapter 3

'THE CRYOGENIC SLEEPING PROCRESS IS ENDING IN 1 MINUTE', the computer said. The room temperature was rising steadily as the cryogenic sleeping process was coming to an end after a long time. In the middle of the room lay a container, with a young and beautiful woman lying inside of it.

She felt her foggy mind gaining consciousness again. _´How long have I been sleeping__?' _She remembered her father saying to her that he was going to put her to sleep for a while, at least until the war was over. As she opens her eyes she sees the glass of the container she has been laying in beginning to slide open.

'My dear Yakumo, when you are hearing this message fifty years have gone past and humankind has lost the war.' It was her father's voice. 'My child, you must seek out the last of humankind that are in Shinzo, which is somewhere in the North-west of the world and bring peace between Enterrans and Humans as you have the power to do so. I love you, Yakumo, goodbye._'_

Tears had sprung to her eyes while she was listening. She wiped them away with the back of her hands. She had to be strong, as her father was counting on her. _'I better get up.'_ She really didn't want to. The moment she would stand up and start her search for Shinzo, she would be alone, even more so than she was now, lying here in this room. She sighed and carefully stood up as she felt a little weak.

'Lady Yakumo.'

'Ahh!'

Turning around quickly she lost her footing and fell to the ground. Looking up she saw that the machine she had been laying on just a moment ago had transformed into a mechanic like dinosaur. It was looking at her amusedly. Well, as amusedly as a mechanical dinosaur can.

'Are you alright Lady Yakumo? I'm sorry to scare you like that.' It looked apologetic at her, before continuing, 'My name is Hakuba, my duty is to keep an eye on you on our journey to Shinzo.'

Yakumo looked at Hakuba and smiled at him. She wouldn't be completely alone on her journey after all. 'Please Hakuba, call me Yakumo. There is no need for you to be so polite to me.'

'If you wish,' Hakuba said. That is when he looked behind her and a look of surprise showed on his expression. 'What's the matter,' turning around she saw what appeared to be a man in a layer of ice.

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Something was approaching him. He could feel the beings life force; it is kind of familiar to him now that he concentrated on it. _'But from where do I know it?'_ It was hesitantly getting closer to him, and he suddenly felt the urge to move.

But he still couldn't move though, and it irritated him. He wanted to move again as he felt stiff and with that he just knew that he had to release his energy. 'ARGH!' He could feel the cold that was surrounding him easily give way to his energy outburst.

'Ahh!' Was the high pitched reply from a female as she was thrown to the ground. He looked up at where the sound came from, and saw a young woman. He instantly reached for the sword lying next to him and tried to stand up.

'Who are you', he demanded as he focused his eyes on her. He could see her wince at his tone of voice.

'Yakumo', she visibly swallowed,' who are you?'

He blinked at the girl, Yakumo, slowly processing what she had said. She was looking at him, patiently waiting for him to answer. It then dawned on him. He felt faint from the realization.

'I-I don't know.'

And with that he fainted.

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The first thing he felt when he woke up again was a splitting headache. He groaned turning away from the light source as it only made his headache worse, while bringing his hands up to massage his head.

'Ah! Awake I see.' Turning his head, he saw the woman that he had met earlier hovering over a pan above a self made fire. It didn't smell very good from where he was laying. Next to her he saw a dinosaur like robot; it was looking at him suspiciously. At least as suspicious as a robot could look. Ignoring the dinosaur, he focused his attention on the young woman again.

'What is your name?' He demanded while lying on his back. He probably looked pathetic.

'Yakumo and this is Hakuba', Yakumo said.

'Yakumo', he paused, testing her name. 'What happened to me?'

'I don't know. You were there when I woke up. Did you know my father?' She asked, looking at him curiously.

'….I..don't know?' He really didn't. 'Oh' she looked disappointed. 'Well, what is your name?'

'It's..' He stopped. What was his name? 'You..don't remember?' Looking up he saw her staring at him uncertainly, as if she was saying something wrong. 'No' he frowned, 'I don't remember.' 'Oh.' An awkward silence followed

'I think your name is Mushrambo.'

Both of them turned surprised towards the robot dinosaur. 'What?' The said at the same time. 'I said that your name is Mushrambo' he replied. 'We found a sword lying right next to you. Yakumo had picked it up and put it in my storage space. When something is put into my storage space it is automatically scanned. The scan of the sword found writing on the blade stating 'To victory, Mushrambo' and since there is a sword's holder on you which fits the measurements of the sword, I deducted that you are the sword's owner and thus that you are Mushrambo.' They continued to look at him blankly, until. 'Mushrambo is too long' 'What?' Mushrambo focused his eyes on Yakumo again who was looking at him. 'I said that Mushrambo is too long.' She was looking at him, forehead creased. Suddenly, her expression cleared. 'Mushra!'

'…What?' He didn't like were this was going.

'Mushra! Mushrambo is too long, so why not shorten it to Mushra.' She seemed happy about her process of thought. He wasn't.

'Hell no.' She looked disappointed. 'Why not?'

'Because Mushrambo sounds strong and manly, while Mushra sounds like a twelve year old boy who hasn't even reached puberty yet.' The look of disappointment turned into sadness. Now he was feeling guilty. Ignoring it he decided to change the subject.

'I'm hungry.' Smooth.

She looked startled by the change of subject, but she quickly recovered and smiled at him politely. Standing up she walked over to pot that was hanging over the fire, taking a bowl and filled it up with some broth which had been cooking in the pot. Having filled the bowl, she walked back to him, kneeling down to hand him the bowl. Taking the bowl from her, he blew on it a few times before bringing it to his mouth to taste it. It tasted like it smelled, horrible.

'How is it?' She looked expectantly at him with this hopeful look in her eyes. She continued, 'It is the first time I've cooked.'

He was about to reply that is was horrible, when he suddenly remembered the sad look on her face when he had refused the name 'Mushra'. For whatever reason he didn't want to see that look on her face again. She was still looking at him waiting for him to reply. So he decided on the next best thing to say.

'It's…edible.' Her face fell. Shit, wrong thing to say. 'I mean, it's…ok for your first time trying.'

'Oh.' She looked disappointed, she had probably hoped that he would like it. Change the subject again Mushrambo.

'What are you going to do?' The question seemed to pull her out of her thoughts.

'Oh. I'm going to find Shinzo.'

'…What?'

Hakuba replied. 'Shinzo is a hidden city in which the last of humankind resides. Yakumo's father asked her to find it and help to rebuild a peaceful world in which Humans and Enterrans live side by side.'

He raised one eyebrow. 'And how are you going to do that?'

'Well', she began, 'I'm not sure yet. First I have to find the place.'

'You don't know where it is?' he asked incredulous.

'Well, I know that Shinzo lies somewhere in the North-west.' She was beginning too lose confidence.

'So you don't know where it is.'

'No', she squared her shoulders, looking him straight in the eye, 'but I can try at least. It's not like I have anything else to do.' She trailed off becoming silent again. They didn't talk as they held each others eyes. Looking at him expectantly she spoke. 'If you want you can come with me.' She looked hopeful. He guessed that she didn't want to be alone. He couldn't blame her, a robot was not exactly the same as another person.

'….Sure', he didn't have anything else to do. He couldn't remember anything. She had started smiling at him, obviously pleased that he was coming along. 'Well, if you are feeling better tomorrow we can head out. Search for a town to stock up, maybe get some clue on where Shinzo lies exactly.' She stopped looking at him she hesitantly said, 'maybe we can even find more information on who you are.'

'I doubt that anyone will remember me… I don't even know how long I've been asleep.'

'We have been sleeping for fifty years.' She said. 'Fifty years…' She nodded. Smiling she continued, 'since it's only has been fifty years I'm sure someone will remember you.'

'Maybe, but I doubt they know where Shinzo is located, it is a hidden city after all.' Her eyes widened a fraction. It seems she hadn't thought about that. She bowed her head, staring sadly at her hands. He continued quickly, 'but it only has been fifty years…maybe someone will know.'

Raising her head again, she smiled gratefully at him. She still had a sad look in her eyes though…He decided that he really didn't like seeing her sad.

'You know', he began, 'Mushra doesn't sound that awful… If you still feel like the name Mushrambo is too long… you may call me Mushra.' A bright smile lit up her face as she took in his words.

'I would like that very much,..Mushra.' He could hear the smile in her voice and he decided then and there that he liked it much the way she said the name. His name.

'Well', Hakuba said, 'It seems that you have reached puberty.' Yakumo let out a bell like laugh, while he glared at the robot.

He would get back at the dinosaur one of these days.

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Please review!


	5. Chapter 4

Hello everybody, it has been a quite some time. Sorry! I think it is good for me to get somebody to beta for me to help me with my writer's blocks So if you want to beta for me don't hesitate to PM message me! Now on with the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Shinzo or any of its characters, beside my own.

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Chapter 4

They had been travelling for a week now without any sign of civilization, scavenging for food when hungry. Needless to say Mushrambo had enough of eating questionable food from Mother Nature which was made even more questionable by Yakumo herself. She refused to let him cook as he had to walk while she rode in Hakuba most of the time. She only thought of it as fair, he didn't agree with her. Yet he couldn't bring himself to tell her the real reason as to why he preferred cooking after walking the entire day. Thus it was a huge relieve for him when in the morning on the eight day of travelling that they came across a road sign with direction to the nearest town.

Looking over his shoulder Mushrambo said 'only five more kilometers to go before we arrive.' Shifting his eyes towards Hakuba he added 'it's probably best if Hakuba doesn't join us into town, he will attract too much attention. It's better that he stays in the woods where he's covered.' He also just wanted to get away from the robot. It had been getting on his nerves ever since they started travelling. He didn't appreciate the robot's sarcastic sense of humor, as he was the target of most of them.

'You're right, but will I attract any attention?' Yakumo asked. Stopping to turn around to look at her he said 'probably not. Like myself there will be Enterrans that look human, but with more…natural coloring.' Referring to his purple hair. 'However, don't say anything about being Human, you shouldn't even imply it. We don't know how they will react.'

She nodded and with that they moved forward. The forest started thinning out indicating that they were getting closer to the town. Yakumo got out of Hakuba telling him to go somewhere safe and lay low. They would be back in the evening.

It turned out the town was a busy, medium sized trading town. Walking close to Yakumo to make sure he kept her near him they headed towards the market to gather supplies and food. As they were walking Mushrambo scanned the crowd, however no one was looking at them suspiciously which was a relief. He had been worried that they might attract too much attention. Arriving at the market Yakumo quickly noticed that they had forgot one important thing.

'We don't have any money', Yakumo stated. Turning away from the market she focused her attention on him, 'do you think they would be willing to trade with us for some food and supplies?'

'We could trade Hakuba', he said. She shoved him slightly, trying not to laugh, telling him to not joke about such things. He had been dead serious. But he didn't correct her, so she continued. 'What else, besides Hakuba', she tried not to smile, 'can we trade?'

Thinking about it he quickly came to a conclusion. 'Nothing. The things that we do have in our possession would bring about too much suspicion. We can't risk it.' He was referring to the many gadgets Hakuba carried which were too advanced to trade in this town.

'So we need to work then, but where?', Yakumo said. Scanning the market place he settled his eyes on a busy restaurant on the other side of the market which had a help wanted sign in its window. 'Over there at that restaurant', he said pointing in its direction. Looking over at the restaurant he is pointing at, she looked amused. 'You can read that sign all the way from here?'

'Yes.' Laughing at his serious tone she took his hand pulling him towards the restaurant. It was busy inside, with three waiters hurrying around with the customers' orders. A insect Enterran with wings came towards them. 'Good afternoon, table for two?' he said.

'Actually, we saw the help wanted poster in your window and are wondering if you need two extra hands?' Yakumo said politely. Her having said that the waiter looked at them more closely.

'Well, I need help in waiting the tables and other odd jobs. As you can see it's quite busy and it is like this most of the day. We are the best restaurant in town you see. Unfortunately, one of my employees moved away while another was killed during a raid when he was getting the supplies from the next town.'

'How much is the pay', Mushrambo asked, ignoring Yakumo's troubled look about that particular information.

Chuckling, the owner said, 'straight to business huh, I like that. Well, the pay is 7 Guilder per hour, while working in shifts of 7 hours each day for the next five weeks. It will be paid out to you at the end of every shift. The tips you get from customers you can keep for yourself as there is no joint tip account. What do you say?'

Looking at each other Yakumo nodded her head agreeing with the offer. Turning towards the restaurant owner, Mushrambo just want to add one more condition.

'We'll take the job, but on the condition that we'll have the same working shift.' The owner looked thoughtful, but then offered his hand saying, 'Deal.' After shaking hands, he said, 'Can you start right now? As you can see it is really busy right now and we can use the extra pair of hands.'

This time Yakumo spoke up, 'Of course.' With that the owner started walking towards the back of the restaurant motioning for them to follow him. When he reached the bar he turned to a huge cat Enterran who was busy bringing dirty dishes to the kitchen behind the bar, 'Hey Kutal! I'm going to the back with these two. Keep an eye on the restaurant for me will ya.'

'Yes sir!' With that Kutal quickly went through the door leading to the kitchen with the dirty dishes. Opening the back door, he allowed them to go first and followed them into the messy room which seemed to be personnel room slash office. 'Well then, for starters let me get you your aprons and writing pads and pens.' Turning towards Mushrambo he eyed his armor and sword and said, 'I'm afraid you have to take your armor off and leave your sword in the store room. As you can imagine it will scare the customers off', he hesitates for a second before continuing, 'Forgive me for asking but why are you dressed in full battle armor? It is rare sight these days.'

'I don't know.' Yakumo seeing the weird look Mushrambo was given elaborated. 'He lost his memory. He cannot remember anything before 10 days ago', here she stopped, thinking carefully about her next choice of words, 'I found him nearly frozen to death and I nursed him back to health.'

The owner face had an incredulous expression while he turned his attention back to Mushrambo. 'So you don't remember anything? Not even your name, oh!', smacking his forehead he said, 'Speaking of names I totally forgot to ask you yours! My name is John. What are your names, at least if you can remember.' Referring to Mushrambo's situation.

'My name is Yakumo and this is Mushra.' 'Mushrambo', he corrected her. She gave him a small pout, obviously wanting him to use the name Mushra. Mushrambo looked straight at John, who looked amused, pointedly ignoring her look, mostly because he would give in if he did. He added, 'I don't remember anything about myself, I was fortunate that my name was on the sword or else I would not have known.'

'Well then, I hope you regain your memory soon enough. In the meantime, let us get to work. The restaurant is open till 10 o'clock in the evening so we still got a busy day ahead of us.'

* * *

It was a quarter past 10 in the evening before the last of the customers left the restaurant. It had been a busy day of serving the tables as well as learning the menu. Yakumo had been an instant hit with customers and colleges alike, Mushrambo however was banned from taking orders and had instead been tasked with bringing the orders to the tables and doing other odd jobs after he had basically told a rude customer to…go away. Rudely. Nevertheless, it had been a successful day and now they were all sitting around the table drinking something after having cleaned everything up.

'I still cannot believe you told that guy to f*ck *ff', Kutal said grinning widely, 'the look on his face was hilarious! We always have problems with that guy, but nobody ever dared to say that to him.'

'Well, let us hope that he comes back as he still is a regular customer', John said looking at Mushrambo with a mildly amused look. Mushrambo didn't care, although Yakumo did look slightly shocked as she hadn't heard what happened. Kutal turned to them.

'Anyway! Enough of that. Tell us your story! It is a mystery to me on how you lot came together. I heard from owner here that you lost your memory Mushrambo. Is it true?' Kutal asked eagerly looking at the two. With Mushrambo nodding Yakumo answered first, 'It's true that Mushra lost his memory. I found him nearly frozen to death and nursed him back to health.' With all occupants of the table looking at him, Mushrambo continued, nodding towards Yakumo.

'After I got my health back, we decided to travel together. And before you ask, my name was on my sword.' Seeing Kutal opening his mouth again to say something. Instead Kutal turned to Yakumo. 'What about you Yakumo? Why were you travelling in the first place?'

They hadn't thought about that. Thinking quickly to make up a cover story he needn't to worry as Yakumo calmly replied with a story on how she was brought up very sheltered by her guardian after her parents died, not even allowed to leave the house, to the point of being in a cage. She told them that two weeks ago she had gotten the opportunity to run away. A few days later she stumbled across Mushrambo while exploring a cave and the rest is history. They all expressed their sympathy for her and wished them good luck as well as recommending places on where to go for them to see as she hadn't had the opportunity yet. While recommending places to go, they mentioned an old human city nearby remaining from 500 years ago before the war.

'500 years ago? But the war was just 50 years ago.' Yakumo said bewilderedly. Mushrambo felt equally confused. He hadn't expected that.

'Wow, you weren't kidding when you said you had been brought up sheltered.' One of the other three waiters, a young enterran woman with fish-like scales on parts of her face called Sakana told her. Looking at Yakumo, John started to explain.

'500 years ago the war ended and since then no human has ever been seen again. When I was growing up my grandfather told me stories about them which he got from his grandfather and so on. He told me that humans were horrible, cruel beings who only cared about waging war with each other. Enterrans were born for this reason.'

Yakumo felt shocked. Did this mean that she was the only human left? Did her father make a mistake? Feeling her shock Mushrambo turned back to John asking the question Yakumo was too shocked to ask. 'Where did they go, the humans I mean?'

'Some say they went extinct. Others say they build themselves cities which are impossible for Enterrans to find and enter. Who knows.' John said and looking at the clock on the wall he turned to all of them to say it was time to receive their salaries and go home.

* * *

As the final week rolls up Yakumo and Mushrambo had nicely settled into a routine. After their first day of work they had decided to stay camped out in the woods in order to save money. Mushrambo felt it was save enough as Hakuba could warn them in advance of unwanted company. Mushrambo himself wasn't bad at detecting people himself he had found out.

Over the past few weeks Mushrambo had become more aware of Yakumo. The way she smiled or laughed, even when she was laughing at his expense, made his stomach do funny things. He found that she was a very kind and patient person. She even got the rude customers to treat her with the same kindness. He also found out she was extremely naïve, but luckily she had such a way with people that they didn't take advantage of her. He found it incredibly frustrating and endearing at the same time. She was also not afraid to give her opinion and could get very passionate about certain things, but never degrading somebody. It also helped that she was very attractive.

If Yakumo felt the same as he did, he wasn't sure. She blushed when he came too close to her or just smiled at him when he looked her way. Hakuba was dropping highly concealed sleazy jokes, which only he seemed to pick up. It could also be that he was imagining things. He just didn't like the robot.

It was the last day of work when John asked him to go to the neighboring village with him.

'Why?' Mushrambo asked. It was late in the afternoon and he was busy in the back shifting boxes and items around. Ever since John had found out Mushrambo could lift multiple heavy boxes without a sweat he had Mushrambo working the heavy stuff in the restaurant. Kutal, who always had to do this, was eternally grateful.

'One of my suppliers is in that town. I'm running low on beer and wine. And since you are so strong and all', flexing his left arm and pointing at it to emphasize his statement 'I need your help. Also, you stare is very intimidating, I might even get a discount.' The grin on his face revealed that John was joking. Signing, Mushrambo agreed. Finishing up in the back, he walked to the front of the restaurant looking for Yakumo. He saw her behind the counter talking to a male customer. He was flirting with her he noticed. She apparently didn't. Suddenly feeling irritated he made a beeline towards them. As if sensing his mood the male customer looked towards him, took one look at his face and quickly excused himself. Surprised, Yakumo turned around to see who had scared her customer away. Seeing who it was she signed. 'Mushra, you should really stop glaring at the customers. You'll scare them away permanently.' 'Don't worry, they will be back again soon with you here.' She blushed at his comment. Clearing her throat she asked why he was looking for her. 'The boss and I are going to the next town to get some supplies. I want you to wait for me until I'm back.' Her smile gave him her answer.

It was already ten o'clock in the evening and Mushra hadn't come back yet. She had worked hard the entire day taking orders, serving food and talking to customers. She enjoyed working at the restaurant, she almost wished they could stay in this town. _'I wonder where we will end up next?'_ She was now in the back changing back into her normal clothes. When she was done she walked to the kitchen. Opening the door she saw Kutal above the stove making some pancakes for himself to eat. 'Kutal, is Mushra back yet?'

'Yakumo! No he isn't back yet.' Walking closer to Kutal she asked, 'Did John say when they might get back? Mushra didn't mention a time.'

'Ahh, no he didn't but knowing John he probably took Mushrambo to the pub there before coming back. He usually does that.' 'Oh..', hearing her disappointed response he turned fully to her. 'Why don't you go home. It can be quite some time before they come back.'

'I don't know. I agreed with Mushra that I would wait for him.' 'I'm sure he doesn't mind. Go home, you look tired. I'm sure he would understand.' Seeing her think about it he added. 'If you want I can drop you off.'

'Oh no!', she responded while shaking her head waving her hands for emphasis, 'I can't possibly ask you to do that for me! Your shift isn't over yet. What if John finds out!' Laughing at her slightly panicked expression he said John wouldn't mind.

Smiling at Kutal she said, 'Thank you. But it isn't necessary. It's only a short walk to where I'm staying. I'm sure I will be fine. Will you tell Mushra for me that I went home already?'

'Of course! Well then you be careful young lady! No talking to strangers!' He said jokingly pointing his finger at her like a worried mother. Laughing she kissed him on his cheek and bid him farewell promising him she will be careful. Once outside the door she hears the busheling inside the restaurant. It is quiet outside as most people where sleeping. The evening air felt pleasant on her skin. Beginning to walk to the entrance of the village she thought to herself. _'Fortunately it is still summer or else I would have been freezing.'_

Mushra and her had saved up quite some money in the few weeks they had been working at the restaurant. It would hopefully be enough money to support them in their travels for the next coming weeks. They would have to be careful with spending. However summer would be over soon and she was worried they wouldn't have enough to buy winter clothing. _'Although I'm beginning to wonder whether Mushra will be affected by the weather change at all.' _

She had noticed that even for an Enterran he was different from the others. He could easily lift up heavy packages that even Kutal, who she found out was the strongest in the village from some of the gossiping villagers, had trouble picking up. He had turned out to be extremely fast when he had saved her from scolding hot soup which was almost poured on her because Sakana's had tripped over her own feet. Later she had found out from John that Mushra and him had just walked out of the store room when they had seen it happen. One moment Mushra was standing next to him, the next moment he was pulling her away. There were many more smaller incidents which set him more and more apart from the others. Some of the other employees had started to become wary of him. It didn't help that he was quite frank with his words and behavior. She hadn't seen him smile once. He had however been looking out for her, helping her when some customers became too touchy, or there were too many orders for her to handle on her own. He would cheer her up in his own way when she was feeling down about possibly being the only human left. Yet, he never hovered giving her the space she needed. It sometimes felt like he knew her moods better than she did. She felt extremely grateful to him.

Suddenly she felt like she is being watched. Looking around her she saw she had reached the village entrance while she had been deep in thought. Looking around again she saw and heard nothing suspicious. Suddenly feeling very unsafe and regretting not waiting for Mushra she hurried through the gate willing herself to walk faster in order to reach Hakuba sooner. She knew she would be safe with him. She was almost by the forest when she heard it. A buzzing sound coming from above her.

Without hesitation she instantly started running, but before she could get any farther she felt something heavy strike the back of her head. Falling down to the ground she heard her assailant laugh. 'I never imagined actually finding a human here. What should we do with her boss?'

She wasn't paying attention, the blow had disorientated her and she could feel the blood flowing from her head. It was becoming black before her eyes. Suddenly, one of them harshly pulled her up by her hair. Crying out in pain she felt her capturer turn her face to him. His mouth reeked of decay. 'I'm sure you will fetch a very nice price.' However, she didn't hear him as the pain became too much and slipped into darkness.

To be continued.

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